The Fiersome Chronicles: A Spawn of Fiersome
by LittleMissWolfie
Summary: Five years after Kyle's disappearance, his family is falling to ruins. Aria starts fights with anyone that says a bad word against him, Aaron is depressed, and Mana is in denial. Will this broken family be able to mend itself?
1. Chapter 1

**Hi, people! Did ya miss me?**

**Okay, Rune Factory. Isn't it one of the most epic game series ever? So, here's my first RF fanfic. I hope you guys enjoy it!**

**I'm going to try to make this kind of like an anime, so if you have any suggestions for a "theme song," please tell me! If I don't get any ideas in about a week, I'll use "Stand in the Rain" by Superchick.**

**Summary: Ten years after Kyle's disappearance, his family is falling to ruins. Aria starts fights with anyone that says a bad word against him, Aaron is depressed, and Mana is in denial. Will this broken family be able to mend itself?**

Episode One: Of Truth and Lies

Aria had never been a level-headed person. If she wanted something, she proclaimed it to the First Forest and back. If she didn't like someone, she showed them painfully. No, she was not calm—that was Aaron's job. So, try to imagine her reaction to Orland calling her dad an abandoner.

The elf boy was face down on the ground, scuff marks covering his body. Aria was breathing heavily, copper hair mussed. Her amber-colored eyes looked inhuman. "Don't say things like that about my Papa!" she yelled. "He just has to take care of something! He's coming back soon!"

Her friend Leonel placed a hand on her shoulder, desperately trying to calm her down. "D-Don't listen to him, Aria."

Orland, on the other hand, laughed cruelly. "So he's been taking care of something for five years? You're thirteen, Aria—it's about time you grew up and faced the facts. Your precious father left you for some harlot in a city. He's probably passed out drunk somewhere, broke because he spent all his money on prostitutes!"

Aria decked him again, and he went limp.

Leonel put his arm around her shoulder and began to lead her to her house. "Calm down, Aria. Orland just likes to make people mad. Don't take him too seriously—"

"Lee? Can you just leave me alone for a while?" she asked softly. He nodded. He would never be able to fathom how hard she must take everything.

She flashed a grateful smile his way and took off—to where, he hadn't a clue.

* * *

Meanwhile, Aaron was at home, doodling. He was always the quiet one, the one who took everything silently. But, he was also the artistic one, and he expressed his frustrations through drawings. In the one he was currently creating, his sister was playing the ocarina their dad gave them, surrounded by swirling black and purple clouds.

If his mother ever saw this, she'd send him to Ray for counseling.

He quickly put it in his secret portfolio and stuffed it under his bed. The room he and Aria shared had vastly changed over the years. Their sides of the room used to look identical.

Now, Aaron's side was neat, with a desk strewn with drawing materials. A few books about some famous artists sat on his bedside table, and his dresser was neat and organized.

Aria's side of the room was very messy. The one part of her room she kept clean was her desk, on top of which lay the ocarina. She hadn't touched the thing in years, but it was a gift her father had carved for her.

Aaron knew that there was a definite probability his father would never return. He sometimes wished his mother would move on. There were plenty of men that traveled to Alvarna just to catch a glimpse of her face. They were all very nice, too. If she could marry one of them, their lives would be much easier.

However, Mana insisted on staying faithful to Kyle. People automatically assumed she was a widow now. After all, what kind of husband would leave his wife and two children?

Aaron absolutely despised his father.

* * *

Aria sat in the little niche behind the monster barn. It used to be her and her father's secret place. It was where he taught her to play the ocarina. It was where he told her fantastical tales that got her giggling like an idiot.

Now, it was solely hers. If she was upset or lonely, she let herself curl up and pretend she was with her father again. Even after so many years, she could remember how strong his arm was around her, the heat of his body when she curled up on his lap. She could remember his calloused hands on hers when he was showing her the fingering positions.

She missed her daddy.

It was only here that she let herself cry. Only here did she drop her walls and cry like a child. She would cry and cry until there were no more tears, and then she would collect herself, put her walls back up, and return to reality.

When she got finished sobbing, she stood up, brushed the dirt off her butt, and made her way home.

The old farmhouse hadn't changed much since Kyle first arrived in Alvarna. The stones were a little more worn, and the vines were a little more rampant. The field was neglected since Kyle left, as no one bothered to till it anymore. It looked pitiful

She opened the door slowly, just in case her mother was already home. Aria and Mana were never as close as Aria and Kyle, and in recent years, Aria had come to be wary of her mother. She acted like she was unstable sometimes.

Thankfully, it seemed her mother was at Grandpa Douglas's store. She hurried up the stairs and burst into the room she shared with Aaron, finding her older twin brother on his bed, reading. She rolled her eyes and plopped down on her own bed, pulling her dad's old diary out from underneath.

_Summer 3_

_Dear Diary,_

_Today, I finally asked Mana out on a date. God, I love her. How am I ever gonna get Douglas to let me marry her, though?_

_Well, she's got an idea I'm not too crazy about._

_She says she wants an engagement ring…and that only Douglas has one. She says she won't marry me until I get it from him, entailing that I will probably have to fight him. I'm confident I can beat him, but I'm afraid I'll seriously hurt him. Mana wouldn't want to come anywhere near me if I did. Oh, what should I do?_

_I might be getting ahead of myself, but I've already thought of what we could name our kid; Aria for a girl and Aaron for a boy. How do those sound?_

_On a completely different track, I am doing pretty well with my farming, if I were to say so myself. If this keeps up, I should have no problem this winter. Score!_

_Kyle_

Aria liked reading about her father's awkward first months in Alvarna. It was quite interesting to her, as was the love story between her parents.

Aaron, who was watching her amused face, set his book about the four Dragons down and wandered over to her bed. "What'cha reading, Aria?"

The girl jumped slightly. "Oh, Daddy's old diary." She held up the leather-bound book for her twin to inspect. "It's really funny, how awkward he was when he first got here. I figure that if I read it all, I might be able to figure out where he is."

Aaron, who was silent while she spoke, slapped the book out of her hand. Aria yelped. "Don't talk about him!" Aaron roared, scaring Aria. He never yelled. "I never want to hear about that man again! It doesn't matter why he left or where he is now! What matters is that he left!"

Aria backed up against the wall and started to shake. "Aaron, you're scaring me," she whimpered.

His distorted face relaxed, and he seemed to realize what he had done. "Ah, sorry. I'm just touchy on that subject. I hate Dad; you know that."

Aria nodded. "It's my fault for bringing it up."

The rest of the evening was silent.


	2. Chapter 2

Episode Two: A Clue

It was back to school the next day. As always, Aria secretly slipped Kyle's diary into her bag just before they left. When she got downstairs, Mana was just finishing her breakfast.

Mana, who used to wear bright, pretty colors, now wore all black. She looked sunken, defeated. All the life had been sucked out of her when Kyle disappeared. It greatly disturbed both twins.

Aria and Aaron were silent on the trip to the school. After the previous night's events, Aria had to tread carefully around her brother. He didn't usually snap, but when he did, it wasn't pretty. Even Aria couldn't match his burning anger when he was mad.

Aria's mood slightly lifted when she saw Leonel in front of the school building and raced to her only friend's side. It might seem strange to people who didn't know the two. They were complete opposites. Leonel was meek and timid; a goody-two shoes in every sense of the word. He helped his father clean the classroom every day and played the organ for Holiday mass.

They felt incomplete without each other, though.

Leonel smiled brightly at Aria, completely ignoring the fight between her and Orland the previous day. "Good morning, Aria!" he chirped.

"G'Morning, Lee."

Just then, a certain half-elf sauntered by. "Oh, look at the love birds! How sweet, they even greet each other in the mornings!" he teased.

Aria tensed and spun around. His cocky face was covered in bruises and scrapes from the fight, but he was as pompous as ever. "Shut up, you stupid elf! Lee and I are _not_ lovers!"

"Oh, I'm sure," Orland retorted snidely. "That's why he follows you like a shadow. Honestly, I feel sorry for the bloke. You're as blind about love as you are about reality."

Aria couldn't contain herself; she let her fist fly into his nose then stomped off into the school, Leonel following right behind.

Inside, Aria took her usual seat at the back left corner of the classroom. Leonel sat right in front of her, and next to her was Aaron. In front of her twin sat Leann de Sainte-Coquille, the local heiress and the object of Aaron's affections. If Mana would pay attention, she would see that instead of taking notes, her son was doodling pictures of himself and Leann during class.

Not that Aria was any better. Whenever she could, she would sneak a peek at her father's diary. She couldn't help it; she was addicted.

That day, during a particularly boring cooking lesson, she snuck the book out of her bag and continued from where she left of the previous night.

_Summer 5_

_Dear Diary,_

_Yes! I got the ring from Douglas! At first, he was going to fight me is Trieste Forest, but this Orc came out of nowhere! I managed to beat it, and Douglas figured that if I could protect him, I could protect Mana. I'm planning on proposing to her tomorrow._

_Also, we had a freak earthquake last night. My field's a mess. It's gonna take forever to clean it up. Just when I got lucky…_

_Not much else to write today. I'll let you know what she says tomorrow._

_Kyle_

Aria giggled slightly, alerting Mana. "Aria, would you like to share the joke you think is so funny you had to interrupt class to giggle about?"

"No, ma'am," she answered politely. She shoved the diary back into her bag and mentally cursed her mom for interrupting her.

* * *

At lunch that day, Aria and Leonel sat under one of the cherry trees. It was summer then, so the leaves were a vivid green color instead of their spring pink. Aria was reading the diary aloud to Leonel, who listened calmly. No, he wasn't the most exciting person, but he was the one constant in Aria's life.

She needed something constant.

_Fall 1_

_Dear Diary,_

_Today, we found out that Mana is pregnant! I'm so excited!_

_The baby's supposed to be due at the end of the month, but that's a bit too long for my taste. If I had it my way, my newborn would already be asleep in the next room._

_On another note, Barrett has recently gotten me into studying dragons. The one I'm reading about now, Fiersome, is said to be sealed under Alvarna! I hope he remains sealed. Can you imagine Alvarna being overtaken by dragons? _

_That's all for today. I'm sorry my entries are so short, but not a lot interesting happens in Alvarna. Mana says I'm the most exciting thing to happen in ages. I don't know whether to be insulted or not._

_Kyle_

When she was done reading, she looked at Leonel. "Who's Fiersome?"

Leonel tilted his head and went in to lecture mode. "Fiersome is one of the four elder dragons and controls the element of fire. The others are Terrable, the earth dragon, Aquaticus, the water dragon, and Ventuswill, the wind dragon. It's said that if they are somehow brought together, their combined powers could create a new world or destroy an existing one.

"Guess it depends on their mood," Aria said sarcastically.

"We depend on them for balance," Leonel continued. "If one is killed, the elements would fall out of balance and the world could very well be destroyed anyway. It's a very delicate thing. For example, if Aquaticus were to disappear for a few months, the seas would recede and fires would abound."

Aria yawned playfully. "It really is interesting, though," she admitted at his hurt look. "I just don't understand why Barrett wanted Papa to research that."

Leonel shrugged. "Who knows? Dad's not the clearest person in the world."

Just then, the bell for the second half of school rang. The two sprung up and ran for the school.

* * *

After school, Aaron walked Leann home. Boy was he lovesick! Leann had long, blonde hair, a slender body, soft, smooth skin—what else could a guy ask for? She was nothing like his tomboy sister Aria…

He felt Leann squeeze his hand slightly and watched as she slipped into the manor. If only she would go out with him…not that he had ever asked before…

Damn, he was a coward.

He dejectedly made his way to the town square and sat on one of the benches. He had been in a foul mood all day, all because of the damn diary.

Why was Aria so obsessed with their dad? It made him so angry that she could hardly think of anything else but finding that man!

He pulled out his sketchbook. Half of it was filled with pictures of Leann, his (usually unknowing) model. He could never get that twinkle in her eye or that curve of her chin just right.

He flipped to the next clean page and began to draw. He only had a pencil, so it was black and white, but he imagined the picture to have shades of vivid red. In it, Aria and Kyle stood together, a large, scaly beast behind them.

When Aaron realized what he had drawn, he ripped it out of the book, crumpled it up, and chucked it as hard as he could. Why couldn't he forget about that dream…?

He stood abruptly. "I need to apologize to Aria," he muttered to himself before he started towards home.

* * *

Aria and Leonel were sitting atop the lumber shed, chatting about dragons when Aaron got home. As soon as he heard the word "dragon," he stiffened.

Aria finally noticed him and hopped down. "Hey, Aaron, do you know anything about dragons? Lee and I are trying to figure out why Barrett likes them so much." It was obvious Aria was lying. She bit her bottom lip when she lied.

That fact Aaron pointed out. "It's got something to do with Dad, right?" he asked in a cold voice. There he went again, letting his temper get the best of him. This time, though, he controlled himself and didn't snap. That was a good thing. "Forget it, Aria. Dad's not coming back; you need to accept that. It's been way too long for him to just be away. If he was coming back, he'd be back by now." With that, he spun on his heel and strode inside, mentally berating himself.

Aria dejectedly walked back to the shed and took Leonel's hand to get her back up. "I don't get what's with him lately," she confided. "He hasn't acted like this since Mom made him take anger management classes when we were kids."

Leonel nodded. "It's probably your obsession with Kyle. He's right, Aria; it's not healthy to be so caught up in something like this."

Aria groaned and jumped back off. "Not you, too! Leonel, I thought you were on my side!"

"I'm concerned, Aria!" he defended, awkwardly falling on the ground. Aria didn't help him up. "When a person is so obsessed with something, it usually has something to do with a psychological catalyst—"

"I am _not_ obsessed. I just want Papa home, safe and sound. Mom and Aaron used to feel the same way." Aria looked pointedly at the ground. "I thought you wanted him back, too. Your dad does." She turned around and started stomping angrily towards the door, yelling, "Go away!" when Leonel tried to follow.

**Bleh, I don't know how good this chapter is. I like it, but I don't know how well it flows with the last chapter. Please tell me in a review~**

**Also, I'm happy to tell you, I passed my written driving exam today! Whoot! As soon as I turn fifteen, I can get my permit now!**

******See you next time~**


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